Never Underestimate...

A year and a half ago I was leasing a ranch before I married my husband and I ran a boarding/training barn there. When I took the property over it was in extreme disrepair and the current tenants whose contracts I inherited where.. well... NOT what I would call horse people, not really. The warterers were filled with debris and dead birds, the dry lots were covered in weed 6-7 ft. high and the entire property was frankly disgusting but I knew I could clean it and turn it around. It was an arduous task to say the least... The tenants were another story...

I had a tenant that would run horses, 10-12 at a time, every month thru the ranch and they would stay a week or 2 and then be gone and replaced by another batch of skinny, emaciated horses and the cycle continued, drove me crazy. As I worked the ranch cleaning the 150 waterers we had in the lots I came across an animal that stole my heart. A small red roan mare that was so sweet and I could hardly find her in the high weeds on his lease lot... but there she was.. skinny, thirsty (her water tank was dry) and so loving, so amazing, you could almost see her heart... I'll get to that in a minute.

My daughter's 13th birthday was coming up and all she wanted was a horse of her own so I called the owner. Come to find out... that very horse and the other 11 in with her were on their way to the dog food plant in Lavaca Mexico the next day. He said they were worthless and good for nothing. I paid him $500 for that horse and immediately moved her to my barn that afternoon. The rest is truly amazing... God really does find a way...

This horse had more spirit than I could have ever imagined.. she wasn't broke as far as I knew but she let my daughter ride her, bareback... in our back yard! She got past her birthday, I have never put balloons on a horse since they usually spook so easily but not this one. She was a real trooper!

It was my daughters faith in that scragly and emaciated horse that brought them to where they are today. I didn't even know you could compete in jumping Quarter Horses until my daughter is bareback jumping this amazing animal out in our pastures... setting up her own jumps no less and then riding her hunt seat at equestrian events and jumping that little mare over 3 ft. !

I thought she'd be a great little "starter" horse for my daughter but that little red roan has taught me more about heart and my daughter has taught me more about faith than anything else I have experienced in my life. My daughter kept raising the jumps higher and I kept getting more scared and she wold always say "Mom, she can do it"... She believed in it and I think WILLED herself and that horse to do it.

Anytime I have a bad day and I think I can't go on and I won't make it... I just keep reminding myself.. like Scarlet, I AM NOT dog food and I can and will exceed all expectations :) I can reach higher than even I expected!

Never let first impressions and stereotypes hold you back... you never know how high you can go when you have confidence and faith!!

P.S. We tracked down the original owners, they were horrified that she may have become dog food and we were amazed to find out she came from amazing breeding line... yeah.. we know her.. we weren't THAT surprised... And the brand they use... is a heart!!